Vanessa Kourtesi

Vanessa Kourtesi is a versatile vocalist, songwriter, and voice educator based in Athens, Greece. Her music draws from East Mediterranean cultures and Greek modal music, while also engaging with avant-garde music and jazz. As a songwriter, she explores the relationship between free-form song, improvisation, and structures rooted in folk traditions.

She has collaborated with numerous artists from the world, improvised, and jazz music scenes, and is also active as a solo artist. Vanessa began her musical journey at a young age performing rebetiko music in Athens and collaborating with many artists within the genre. Rebetiko and Greek folk music remain among the strongest influences in her artistic path. She released her debut EP in 2022, entitled Spending Time with Esther, followed by an album with the band Merem in 2023. In addition, she has appeared as a vocalist on many recordings in Greece and the Netherlands. Her debut full-length album “Sabbar” is going to be released in late 2026.

Vanessa also participates in interdisciplinary productions (“To foulari”, D. Tripani-Municipal Opera Theater of Athens 2025), composing music for other art forms such as dance and puppet theatre (“Nude”, Stella Magna 2025). She has toured internationally and performed at festivals including North Sea Jazz Festival (NL), AnoPolis World Music Festival (GR), Flying Carpet Festival (TR), O Festival (NL), Athens Music Festival (GR), Music Village Festival (GR), among others.

She holds a BA in Vocal Performance from Codarts, University of the Arts in Rotterdam, and an MA in Voice Pedagogy from the Voice Study Centre (UK).